Whispers in the dark
by SGRaider
Summary: It was supposed to be a simple trade mission, he should've known better than that. There was no thing as a simple mission; there were always at least a thousand things that could go wrong. Wraith culling on the planet you are trading with was one of them.
1. Wake Up Call

**A/n:** Hello everyone! Here I am with a new story. I love Lorne and Cadman and there aren't many stories about them, so I said to myself "What the heck" and decided to write one. It takes place in mid season four.  
I also want to dedicade this chapter to my dear friend Gabs.

**Disclaimer:** I (unfortunately) do not own Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters. I am making no profit out of this, just writing it for fun.

**Chapter One: Wake up call**

Major Evan Lorne woke up with a terrible headache. At first he thought it was from a hangover, but he didn't remember getting drunk the last night. In fact he didn't even remember the last night. He looked around. Nope, this weren't his quarters in Atlantis. It looked like a holding cell, a Wraith holding cell and… he wasn't the only one in it. There was a figure lying next to the wall only few feet away from him. He moved closer to see who it was and winced at the sight.

It was Lieutenant Cadman. He checked for a pulse. She was still alive, but things didn't look very good for her. Her heartbeat was slow and her breathing shallow. He didn't know if she had any internal damage. Wait, why was Cadman with him, she wasn't even a part of his team. He struggled to remember what had happened.

_Cadman had been absent for over 4 months. He couldn't blame the marine, after all it was the Doc who had died and he was sure she didn't want to be so near to the place where it had happened.  
Lorne even thought that she'll never return to the Pegasus galaxy and was surprised when three weeks ago she was transferred back. _

_On the last mission the Major was supposed to take his and Lieutenant Stackhouse's team to M5C - 539, but one of his men was still recovering from a broken leg and Colonel Sheppard had told him to pick a replacement. He decided to pick the Lieutenant cause she hadn't been offworld since she had rejoined the Expedition. _

_It was supposed to be a "simple trade mission", he should've known better than that. There was no thing as a simple mission; there were always at least a thousand things that could go wrong. Wraith culling on the planet you are trading with was one of them._

_Stackhouse's team was already back and they were going to dial the Gate to return to Atlantis when it opened and a dart flew trough it. Evan dug for cover behind some rocks and pulled Cadman with him. On the other side his men were aiming their weapons on the dart when a second one flew in, then another, and another. Five darts were now flying over the planet.  
_

_"Stay at the gate" he ordered trough his radio making eye contact with the Lieutenant. He was telling her to stay there too. "I am going back to the village. Dial Atlantis when the Gate shuts and ask for reinforcements!"  
_

_"With all due respect, Sir, you can't go there on your own. You'll get killed!" she responded_

_"And if I take you with me, you'll get killed too. I know what the stakes are, Laura." She seemed a little bit startled to hear him use her first name "But I have to at least try to save some of the people, they haven't done anything to deserve this."_

_"It's not the time to play hero, Evan." _

_He didn't know what made him do it, the pleading look in her eyes, the way she called him by his first name or simply the fact that she was right, but he nodded and both headed back to the village. _

_By the time they arrived there wasn't much left to save. The Darts were flying around, teleporting troops and beaming away any villager that was trying to run away. _

_They saw a group of wraith soldiers coming their way and hid in the trees. The last soldier from the group stopped and looked at the trees, exactly in their direction. "I hope he can't see anything from that mask" Evan thought. The wraith stared at the spot for several seconds, but didn't notice them and followed the group._

_"Close call." Cadman breathed "Let's get out." She was on her way out of the trees, but he pulled her back_

_"Another group is coming." He pointed in its direction_

_A commander and two soldiers were passing by. He saw them carrying something, or rather someone. When the group got closer he saw that it was a child and a young woman, both unconscious, probably stunned._

_"We have to do something!" the Lieutenant whispered_

_"We can't, there are wraith allover the place and we don't have much ammo."_

_"But, it's just a child. It doesn't deserve that kind of fate." She freed herself from his grasp and ran out of the woods shooting at the group_

_Things were going good, she managed to take down the soldier that was holding the child and the Major followed her shooting the other. When he was taken care of too Evan turned only to see the commander holding Cadman by the throat. He had raised his hand and was preparing to feed on her when Lorne started shooting. That made the wraith angrier and he threw the woman several feet away, going for the Major who continued firing. After few seconds and a whole magazine the commander fell dead to the ground. Evan quickly ran to the now unconscious marine. He knelt beside her and turned her so that she was lying on her back._

_"Cadman, wake up." She didn't respond "C'mon, Laura! Wake..." he couldn't finish the sentence, because a stunner blast hit him in the back and the world went black._

"Why did I have to listen to you Cadman? It would have been only me here if I hadn't." He whispered while looking at the marine who began to stir and finally opened her eyes.

"You said something, Sir?" she tried to smile, but winced instead

"What is it?"

"I think I broke a rib when that wraith threw me on the ground. It hurts when I breathe."

"Try dialing again." Colonel Carter ordered.  
They were trying to dial M5C - 539 for over fifteen minutes now. Lieutenant Stackhouse's team had returned and Lorne's was supposed to follow them after not much more than ten minutes, but when they didn't return half an hour later Carter and Sheppard were called to the control room.

"Yes ma'am." Chuck answered and started dialing

He was on the third chevron when the Gate opened

"Incoming wormhole!" he shouted "Receiving IDC. It's Major Lorne's team."

"Finally." Sheppard said and ran down the stairs to the control room closely followed by Carter

To their surprise only two of the soldiers in Lorne's team came trough.

"What happened to Major Lorne and Lieutenant Cadman?"

"The Wraith culled the whole planet, Sir." one of the solders said panting "The Major took Lieutenant Cadman and went back to the village. He ordered us to dial Atlantis when possible and ask for reinforcements. We tried to contact them while dialing, but they didn't respond. We think both have been taken in the culling."

_"Just great_." John thought. He turned to Carter "We have to go back to the planet, see if we can make out what happened to them."

"Tell your team to gear up. You're leaving in an hour."

"Can you sit?" Evan asked

"I think so."

He was helping her sit up when the holding cell opened and a Wraith commander accompanied by two soldiers entered.

"Helping the female, how sweet." He hissed "I am sorry to disappoint you, but she is coming with us now. Don't worry; we'll bring her back unharmed... well, relatively."

"Take me instead." There was no hatred or anger in his voice, only determination.

"Offering himself to protect her, how pathetic."

With that the soldiers entered and picked Laura up. She managed not to scream at the pain and threw one last pleading look at Evan before they took her out.

**  
A/n:** So this was the first chapter. Yeah, I know, short... Thank you for reading it and hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are always appreciated. See ya next time! : )


	2. Falling inside the Black

**A/****n****:** Ha again everyone! I was going to post this chapter earlier, but I started watching SGA and then I had to leave *trails off*… Anyway, I'd like to thank all of my reviewers. You guys are great! I would also like to thank my beta. Thanks darling! *hug*

Here we are with chapter two, read on. : )

**Disclaimer****:** I do not own Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters.

**

* * *

Chapter Two****:**** Falling inside the black**  
"There's nothing here, Sir." One of the soldiers reported to Sheppard "Only few bodies, but the Major and the Lieutenant are not among them"

"Well, that gives us some hope." The Colonel nodded to him to go back to his team

"Colonel Sheppard, this is Lieutenant Stackhouse" he heard trough the radio "We found something you might want to see."

"Stand down, I am coming to your location." He answered already running

John needed few minutes to get there and when he arrived was greeted by the sigh of three dead wraith.

"Wooh, what happened to them?" he asked the Lieutenant

"Gunshot wounds, Sir. Many of them. We think they have been caused by this." He pointed a P- 90 lying on the ground.

"Okay, so we know they kicked some Wraith ass, but that doesn't help us locate them." Sheppard pointed out

"As far as we know they may not even be alive by now, Sir." Stackhouse said

"Let's not get that assumption. Okay, I think it's time to go back to Atlantis. We may have another way to find them."

* * *

Evan didn't know how much time had passed since the Wraith took Laura. Every second felt like an hour and he couldn't stop thinking about her. What were they doing to her? Was it only questioning or were they torturing her too? What if she was already dead, fed upon by the queen of the hive? No, he couldn't afford to even think about that. "She's alive" he kept telling himself. The minutes were passing and Lorne found himself thinking of Laura leaving Atlantis and the Doc's death. He was still blaming himself. If only he had left his painting and went fishing with Carson, he would've been alive now, Laura would've never left the Pegasus Galaxy and probably wouldn't have been on this mission with him. "I am never gonna forgive myself if she dies here." Evan thought

After what seemed like an eternity to him the cell door opened and Laura was shoved in by two Wraith soldiers. The first thing he noticed about her was that she was very pale and was barely standing on her feet. He quickly went to her side and helped her sit down against the wall. He then tried to move away and sit next to her, but something was stopping him. He realized that she was clutching his shirt and noticed that she was shaking.

"Laura, what happened there?" no answer "Laura?"

"They replayed my own memories." she said with a small voice "The worst ones. They even had changed some of them. I think they kinda healed me too. I don't feel any pain." she lifted her head to look at him. It looked like she was afraid to say the next thing out loud "I remembered" he nodded to her to continue "I remembered you, telling me about Carson's death."

* * *

_Tell __Cadman__ that the Doctor she loved had died in an explosion was probably the hardest thing Evan Lorne had ever had to do. __Not that h__e had__n't__ done it before. Having to tell someone's family that their loved one had died in the line of duty was inevitable, but he always knew how to do it right. _

_Maybe because it was the Doc who had died or __just because__ it was__ Laura__ and she__ was a friend, but he couldn't find the right words__. __He __thought of many ways to tell her the sad news__ on his way to her home, but they just weren't good enough. _

_He got to __her front__ door still thinking of the right thing to say, but knew that he couldn't just stand __there__ and pressed the doorbell._

_She opened and greeted him with a smile. He still remembered that smile, but hadn't seen it in five months. When he found the words to tell her she broke down into sobs. He had never seen this side of Laura Cadman. The strong and brave marine was now a fragile woman, crying for her lost loved one._

_He never got to see her after that day__ until her return to Atlantis.__A__ week after __his visit__ her request to leave Pegasus was on his desk and Evan knew he had to accept it__, for her sake._

* * *

"You were blaming me for his death." She continued "You were saying that it was all my fault. It seemed so real."

"Cadman" he decided to put in some authority "Look at me. I would never blame you for the Doc's death, never."

He hugged her tightly and she gradually stopped shaking.

* * *

"We have an incoming wormhole!" Chuck shouted "Receiving IDC…" he turned to Carter "It's Colonel Sheppard."

"Lower the shield." Sam ordered and went to the Control room

"Did you find something?" She asked the other Colonel

"Three dead wraith, probably killed by Lorne and Cadman. No sign of them though, we didn't find their bodies." Sheppard answered

"So we're assuming they were taken in the culling. What are our options now?"

"I think we may have one." He shot her a look saying "but I don't think the control room is the right place to discuss it"

"Briefing room." She said

* * *

Cadman had dosed of about half an hour ago and was sleeping quietly, her head on Lorne's shoulder. He was probably as tired as her if not more, but couldn't sleep. One thing was bothering him. Why did they show Laura those things? She didn't mention them asking anything about Atlantis or Earth. It didn't make sense to him. Were they doing this for fun? No it didn't seem like it. There had to be some purpose.

He didn't have more time to think about it, because the cell opened again and the same wraith commander entered. Lorne felt the Lieutenant almost jump awake next to him.

"It is your turn now." The commander turned to him as two soldiers entered and took him. He tried to struggle, but that only earned him a stun blast in the back.

In Atlantis' briefing room the team and Colonel Carter were joined by Colonel Caldwell. By the time that everyone was seated Sheppard was already explaining his plan.

"We know they have been taken by the Wraith." He said while pacing around the room

"Well, thanks for saying that Mr. Obvious." McKay answered

"You are welcome, Rodney." He answered bitterly and continued like nothing had happened "Who of our acquaintances knows much about the Wraith and their fractions?"

"You are suggesting we should contact Todd?" Carter asked

"I don't trust him." Ronon said playing with his gun

"We know that Chewie, thank you." The Satedan growled at him

"Okay, let's say that we are to contact Todd. How do we do it?" Colonel Caldwell asked

"His way." John answered

"Of course." Rodney started snapping his fingers "We place a subspace tracking device on an uninhabited planet."

"Then what?" Caldwell didn't seem to like the plan

"Then we... wait" the scientist didn't look very confident now

The wraith soldiers threw him back on the ground of the cell in front of Laura.

* * *

"Evan, what happened?" she asked watching him get up "What do they want from us?"

Lorne remembered vaguely most of the time he had spent there and the things they had made him see, but there was one thing the wraith had said that he remembered clearly.

"_Soon you will bow __before me." the commander had said_

"I think they want to make us worshippers." He answered finally

**A/n:** Okay, folks, that was chapter two. Thank you for reading. *hugs*. What do you think?


	3. Time of Dying

**A/n:** Hello again! It has been more than a month I think since I updated. Wow, sorry I made ya wait that long. Here is the long awaited (psh, yeah right) chapter 3 of Whispers in the Dark. I would like to dedicate it to Shilhi to who I made a promise not to abandon this fic. I am still keeping it, never mind the (huge) delay. :)

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Stargate Atlantis or any of its characters. They belong to their respectful owners.

**

* * *

Chapter Three: Time of Dying.**

John entered McKay's lab and found the scientist arguing with Zelenka in front of a PC screen.

"What's going on?" he asked

"Dr. McCzech here does not agree with me." McKay answered clearly annoyed

"About what, Rodney?" The Colonel asked tiredly.

"About which planet we should place the transmitter on."

"And here I thought you were arguing over something really important."

"First, it _is_ important. Second my idea for a planet is a thousand times better than Radek's."

"And it is?"

"M1K-439." Rodney said smugly

"Nothing special about it, just an uninhabited planet." Sheppard answered

"An uninhabited planet whose climate is better than Zelenka's"

"Which one did you suggest?" the Colonel turned to the other man

"P3M-736" the Czeck scientist said proudly

"The one we met Ronon on?"

"The same."

"It's a good idea, but I think I have a better one and Colonel Carter agrees with me. C'mon." he signaled them to follow him put of the room

* * *

Lorne had woken up about what he estimated was two hours ago from something he thought was the ship exiting hyperspace. Everything after that was just anticipation and many of unanswered questions swarming in his head. Why had they stopped? At first he thought the hive was attacked and hoped that it was Colonel Caldwell or Colonel Ellis with their ships and Sheppard's team on board. That hope died when he didn't detect any signs that the ship was leading a battle. Next thing he though it was a problem with the engine that made them jump out of hyperspace. It was still an option.

He didn't want to think about the third possibility. What if they had reached their destination, wherever that was? What were they going to do with him and Cadman, were they going to kill them? "No I'll be damned if I let that happen." He least the Lieutenant was sleeping. The last thing he wanted was her having the same thoughts as him. He turned to take a look at her and immediately felt guilty. It was his fault, it all happened to her because of him. If he hadn't chosen her to replace the soldier from his team, she would've been in Atlantis at that time, probably in her science lab experimenting with some explosive or another. Not on a Wraith hive with him, being felt her stirring next to him and turned to see her eyes open and starring intensely at him. Before he could say anything to her the cell door opened and a wraith commander entered the room.

"What do you want?" Lorne asked

"We have reached our destination." He said pulling out a stunner and shooting both him and Cadman.

"Take them out." He ordered as two soldiers entered the room

* * *

"MR4-389?" Zelenka asked

"Do you remember last year, when I was captured by the Genii?" the other people in the room nodded "That's the planet where we dropped Todd off to be picked by his people."

"We think that he'll recognize the place and understand it's us calling." Carter explained "Are you ready with the transmitter, Rodney?"

The scientist nodded in response.

"Good, you'll leave in half an hour to set to up. We'll leave a team there to monitor for any ships."

They nodded and headed for the door, but were interrupted by a young lieutenant that flew into the room.

"Ma'am," He turned to Carter "We need you in the control room. There's something you should see."

* * *

"This is getting old quickly." Laura though as she woke up again with a terrible headache, probably a result of being stunned. She took time to notice her surroundings and saw that the cell was different. It was of wraith design for sure, but it wasn't the one they were in up until… she stopped realizing she didn't know how much time had passed and opted for asking the person sitting next to her.

"Sir, what happened?" she asked, deciding to stick to the "Sir"

"They moved us. I think we're on a planet now."

"How do you know?"

"The wraith that stunned us said that they had reached their destination."

"Well, at least it'll be easier for Atlantis to find us, now that we're no longer on a ship."

"We'll find a way out of here, even if they don't." the Major answered determinately

She didn't know what made him say that, but decided that she liked that side of Evan Lorne.

* * *

"So, he's calling us." Sheppard said, looking at the little red dot on the screen that was indicating Todd's subspace tracking device.

"I wonder what he wants this time." McKay said

"Wouldn't hurt to find out." Sam answered "We may be able to get some information about Major Lorne and Lieutenant Cadman in exchange for it."

"Yeah and it saves us the effort of looking for him." John inserted

They had spent the last ten or so minutes in silence when Laura decided to speak.

"Sir, what do you think happened to the child and the woman?"

"I don't know. I can only hope the Wraith took us and left the place."

She didn't know what to answer and didn't get the chance to when the cell door opened. The commander was different this time. He, like the other entered and without a word stunned Cadman while his soldiers took the still conscious Lorne and led him out of the room.

* * *

"Incoming wormhole." Chuck shouted turning to the two Colonels next to him "It's them."

They both nodded and headed to the Gateroom followed by McKay. The three arrived just in time as a team of four went through the gate. They were standing on every side of a taller figure, John immediately recognized as the Wraith he had teamed up to escape from the Genii a year ago and approached the group. The other two followed him.

"Sheppard" The Wraith said instead of a greeting

"Well if it isn't our good friend Todd. I would've shaken your hand, but uh… you know." The Colonel looked down to the handcuffs that were keeping the Wraith's hands close to his body

"Shall we discuss the matter I came here for?" Todd answered completely ignoring the previous comment

"Yes." Sam interfered "This way." She headed to the briefing room followed by the two men, the Wraith commander and his escort

"So let's get to the point." She started when the four of them, joined by Ronon and Teyla, sat in the briefing room "Why did you call us?"

"As you know" Todd started "Now, after the replicators have been defeated civil wars are breaking out among my kind"

"Too much Wraith and not enough humans to feed on." Sheppard remarked

"Yes. Fractions are fighting each other and the only way for my hive to emerge victorious from the war is to make an alliance."

"What do you want from us?" Ronon asked

"To form an alliance we have to first prove our loyalty by defeating an enemy of the fraction we want to ally ourselves with…"

"But they are more powerful than you and you need our help." Sheppard finished for him

"Yes. The queen of the enemy fraction is in total control of three ships. With the help of one of your space ships we won't have any problems to take them down."

"And what do we get in return?" Carter asked

"I heard that an enemy fraction has captured two of your people."

"News sure travel fast in this galaxy." John said. The Wraith opened his mouth to speak again, but he cut him off "So, we help you defeat the hives and in exchange…"

"I give you the location of your people." Todd finished

"How do we know they are still alive?" Ronon interjected

"Oh they are pretty much alive, I can assure you. The queen of the enemy hive has bigger plans for them than just making them her next meal."

"And those plans aaare?" Sheppard asked

"Of that I am not certain, but I know for sure that they are still alive."

"Okay, the Daedalus is scheduled to arrive in 36 hours. In the meantime you will give us the location of those hives and all the information needed. Do we have a deal?" Carter asked

The Wraith only nodded in response.

* * *

Evan was led through a maze of corridors and brought to the Queen of the hive. The moment she looked at him he felt his feet buckle underneath him and in the next second he was on his knees in front of her.

"Me and you, we are going to have some fun." She said with a malicious smile

With that the Queen placed her hand on his chest and he felt his life being slowly drained from him. _"Looks like I broke my promise. I am sorry Laura." _He thought as the Queen sucked the last of his life.

**

* * *

A/n:** That was chapter three folks. What do you think? I have already started the next one and I hope it won't be long till I finish it. Until then review to tell me what you think. :)


	4. Rebirthing

**A/n:** Hello again my youthful readers! Okay, that didn't sound right. I hope you enjoy this.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Stargate Atlantis. If I did, Beckett wouldn't have died.

**

* * *

Chapter Four: Rebirthing**

"Colonels." Caldwell nodded greeting both of them upon being beamed down to Atlantis' briefing room.

"Colonel." They both answered

"Welcome back." Carter continued

"We received a subspace transmission on the Daedalus regarding a Wraith on the base."

"Yes, our good friend Todd called us just as we were about to call him." Sheppard answered

"What for?" Caldwell asked

"As you know Major Lorne and Lieutenant Cadman have gone MIA during a mission. We thought Todd may have some information regarding their location." the blond woman explained

"And what does he want from us?" the older man raised his eyebrows

"That's what we need you for." Sheppard answered "Todd says that he needs our help with destroying the hives of an enemy fraction. In return he will tell us what he knows about our people."

"Okay, what are we dealing with?" the other Colonel asked

Carter reached for the remote next to her and turned to the screen on her left. A star map appeared on it.

"This" She pressed a button and the map zoomed in to show a planet "is MR6 – 347. From the information Todd gave us we know that all of the enemy fraction's ships left this planet 38 hours ago".

"And by 'all of the enemy fraction's ships' you mean how many?

"Three." The other Colonel answered

"Todd is in command of one ship and with the Daedalus' plasma beam weapons it won't be a problem for the two ships together to take them down." Sheppard inserted

"Anyway" Carter continued "they are headed" another planet appeared on the map "here, M77 – 126. Doctor McKay calculated that their next stop will be in just under 9 hours, in the space between these two solar systems." the map zoomed out to show the place. "We calculated that the Daedalus would reach the place for six hours."

"And Todd's hive?" Caldwell asked

"They are already on their way, however the place they left from is farther away from the destination than Atlantis. They should arrive there in eight hours."

"Todd himself will be on board the Daedalus with us, cause frankly, we can't trust him." Sheppard added

"That too." The blonde agreed with him

"When will your team be ready for departure Colonel Sheppard?"

"They are getting ready as we speak, Sir."

* * *

"_Looks like I broke my promise. I am sorry Laura."_Evan thought as the last of his life was sucked from his chest. He could no longer see the face of the Queen that was doing this to him, he no longer felt any pain. _"Is this what dying feels like?"_ he thought _"Not much different from what I expected then. So what happens now? Do I get to see The Creator now or is it just…" _his thoughts were cut off by a sharp pain in his chest. _"So you feel pain even when you're dead? And here I thought there would be something good about it_._"_ But this time he was feeling different, not surrounded by the darkness and numbness death presented him with anymore. It felt like the stolen life was coming back to his body, but it couldn't be that she was giving it back, could it? He then remembered Colonel Sheppard's report from the time he had been captured by the genii. _"So that's how it feels like to be brought back to life." _Lorne thought opening his eyes. The first thing he saw was the Queen's face mere inches above his own, her teeth forming a wicked grin. Her hand left his chest and he almost fell sideways, but was roughly put back on his knees by two of the Queen's subordinates. Next thing he knew the hand was back on his chest and she hissed, starting the process again, the pain even more excruciating than before. She left him on the edge a little bit longer this time before bringing him back and her hand didn't leave his chest.

"What is Atlantis' location?" she hissed

"What makes you think I'll tell you?" Lorne tried to laugh, but managed only a chocked chuckle

He felt that she didn't like his answer as she let out an angry hiss and started feeding on him again.

* * *

"Sir, we're detecting a hyperspace window."

They have been waiting for the enemy hives to arrive for almost three hours. McKay had never stopped his blabbing for some thing or another, Sheppard didn't bother to listen to him after the second minute. Teyla looked anxious and a little bored and Todd was giving the Satedan next to him sideways glare every now and then. Maybe it had something to do with the gun said Satedan was pointing at him.

"Is your hive ready?" Caldwell turned to Todd

"Yees." The Wraith answered

"Alright then, hit them with all we have the second you have a lock on the target."

"Yes Sir!"

They saw the three hives jump out of hyperspace. The allied hive started shooting immediately as did the Daedalus. A blue beam pierced one of the enemy ships and few shots from their allies later it was destroyed. The other two ships undertook evasive maneuvers to escape the range of the newly crated by the destruction of the hive explosion. They barely made it, Sheppard noticed. One hive even took some damage from the blast.

"Sir, something tells me that they are gonna try to escape in hyperspace." He turned to the other Colonel

"Launch all X-302s" Caldwell ordered

"And focus your fire on the one on the left. My readings show that it sustained serious damage during the destruction of the first one." McKay added

In the meantime all enemy darts were released simultaneously effectively outnumbering the Tau'ri squadron while both enemy ships focused their fire on the Daedalus.

"Open a channel to the allied hive." Caldwell ordered. "This is Colonel Steven Caldwell of the Earth's ship Daedalus; we need you to focus your fire on the hive on the left."

"You can release all of your ship's darts in while you're at it." The scientist called out

"_Very well__"_ Came the response from their temporary allies.

Both ships concentrated their fire on the damaged enemy vessel while the X-302s advanced to the other's hyperdrive.

* * *

She was asking the same question. Every time she took his life and gave it back she would ask the same damn question. "What is Atlantis' location?" and every time he refused to answer she would start feeding of him again. _"But who knew you could only endure this eight times before you pass out from the pain. I sure didn't."_ Evan thought bitterly as he woke up alone in the cell. _"I hope they are asking you easier questions, Laura."_

* * *

Another beam from the Daedalus' plasma weapon and the second hive was destroyed. Only half a minute later a report came in, the last ship's hyperdrive was successfully destroyed. _"The battle is almost over. The odds are we'll be getting the championship trophy."_ Sheppard thought.

Few seconds later an alarm turned on. _"I just had to jinx it, didn't I?"_ the spiky haired Colonel thought

"We're detecting a hyperspace window, Sir."

"What, but I thought we just destroyed the…" Caldwell shouted

"It's not this hive leaving, it's someone else coming here." McKay answered

As he said so, a hyperspace window opened and another three hives entered the battle shooting at the Daedalus and its allied hive.

"Bastard!" Ronon yelled taking Todd by the throat and pressing him to the nearest wall "You knew about those all along didn't you?"

"Now is not the time Ronon, put him down." Teyla said to her teammate gripping his shoulder. He grunted and released the Wraith's neck, but never lowered his gun

"Shields are at 50% and dropping, we won't be able to hold them off much longer, Sir." One of the bridge officers shouted

"That's it!" McKay said snapping his fingers. He turned to Caldwell "How many nukes do you have on board?"

"Many, why?" said Colonel answered

Instead of answering, the scientist turned to Todd. "We need your ship's jamming codes."

"What?" was the wraith's response.

"Look, we know that all hives have a jamming system that prevents beaming things on board and we know that their codes are the same. If you give us your ship's code I'll be able to crack it, we'll send nukes to the enemy ships and it's done."

"How are you gonna crack the codes Rodney? If I remember correctly last time you needed an Asgard to do it and if you haven't noticed the Asgard are an extinct race now." Sheppard pointed out

"Well, then aren't we lucky that Hermiod and I made a cracking program after our "cooperation" with the Wraith two years ago." The scientist retorted, words dripping with sarcasm

"Shields are at 30%." The officer shouted again

"Open a channel to the ship." Caldwell ordered nodding to McKay

"This is Doctor Rodney McKay" he said uncertainly "Of the Earth's ship Daedalus. We would need your ships jamming codes in order to destroy the remaining four hives."

"Are we receiving anything?" Caldwell asked few seconds later

"No, Sir."

"Order them to." Sheppard said turning to Todd "It's your ship after all."

"But how can I be sure that you won't send a nuke to it after you've destroyed the others?" he retorted

"First of all, if we wanted your ship destroyed we wouldn't have come here and fight your enemies for you, we would've let them destroy it themselves and second, if you don't give us the codes they will." The Colonel answered

"Very well. Is the channel still opened?" the Wraith asked receiving a nod from the ship's commander

"Do it." Todd ordered

"Receiving transmission" McKay shouted "Okay, just give me a minute."

"We may not have that much, Rodney." Sheppard answered

"Okay, thirty seconds. And… that's it I am ready. Pick a target." The scientist said pressing few places on his tablet

"We have a lock." An officer shouted "The weapon is away."

And indeed few seconds later one of the ships exploded taking the closest one and destroying it too.

"That's two. Two left." Caldwell said

"Next target locked."

The other ships were destroyed the same way. Todd's hive jumped into hyperspace immediately after the explosion.

"Looks like your people chickened out and ran away." Sheppard pointed out studying the Wraith's expression. _"From the look on his face it looks like they ditched him"_ he thought.

The Daedalus jumped into hyperspace too and headed to Atlantis.

"Now Todd, you have some information to give to us."

**

* * *

A/n:** That's it for chapter four. Hope you liked it! See ya next time! :D


	5. Believe it or Not

**A/n:** Hello everyone. Chapter 5 is here. Sorry for the delay… again. I had a (not that) little author's block there, but now I feel inspired for some SGA action. :)

By the way, have any of you watched Supernatural? Jamie Ray Newman was in an episode in season one and Kavan Smith appeared once in season three. There are so many SG actors there. I just love spotting them. :D Okay, enough with the ranting, on to the chapter.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Stargate Atlantis or its characters. It wouldn't have ended with only five seasons if I did.

**

* * *

Chapter Five: Believe it or not**

"Ma'am, the Daedalus is ready to beam their crew." the gate technician shouted

"Tell them to go on" Carter answered "This is going to be an interesting briefing" she murmured under her breath heading to the gateroom where Sheppard's team had just appeared

"How did it go Colonel?"

"Oh well, you know…" Sheppard answered "We went, we saw, more hives came and almost kicked our asses, and we won. The usual."

"You can tell me more about it in the briefing room."

"Heeeey" McKay protested "Can't we at least have a shower and lunch before that? I almost died there, you know." But the others had already left "Ah, who am I kidding…"

"We have a location." Sheppard started "M3J – 447. Our current data shows only one hive orbiting it and we have the coordinates and plans for the facility our people are most likely to be in."

"Looks like Todd was in a very cooperative mood." Carter pointed out "Where is he now?"

"We left him on M7A – 310, he choose it. And you know him, never holds any information back, plus Ronon's gun pointed at one's head tends to make one rather talkative."

"I see. Good job, Colonel. I authorize a mission to M3J – 447. You'll leave tomorrow, Colonel Caldwell said that his ship will be ready for another flight in 20 hours."

* * *

When they brought her back, Cadman was on the verge of consciousness, muttering something about Carson and Atlantis. Lorne couldn't make any of it. Good thing was that she wasn't injured and it looked like the Queen hadn't fed off her. _"One problem less"_ Lorne thought _"That leaves the question, what did they do to you Laura?"_

* * *

"_Finally."_ McKay thought, taking a bite of his very late lunch. Near death experiences always made him want food, well want more food than usual. Plus he had come up with the master plan to save everyone. That ought to make one hungry…

His train of thought was interrupted by Sheppard walking in the cafeteria and taking the seat opposite of his.

"Having a little snack for three, Rodney?"

"Oh, har- har, Kirk. I saved your ass back there, show at least some gratitude.

"Thank you, oh Mighty Mastermind… that good?"

The scientist sighed "Anyway, doesn't this seem too easy to you?"

"What."

"Oh, come on, Sheppard. There's only one hive in orbit, the facility seems virtually unprotected. They are holding two of our people that could tell them everything connected to Atlantis and Earth. I think they would want them to stay there."

"You're right, something smells nasty here. And it isn't your lunch." Sheppard answered getting up.

"My lunch smells perfectly fine, thank you. So, what are we gonna do about that. What if it is a trap?"

"We'll just do what we always do- trigger it and improvise."

"Yeah, right. And like always, we'll endanger our lives and I'll have to think of something to save us." McKay muttered when the Colonel had already left the room

* * *

"Major?"

"Cadman, you're awake?"

"Yes, Sir. Did they stun us again? My head feels like I am having my first hangover all over again."

"I don't think they did. Do you remember anything after they took you?"

"Only them dragging me back here, Sir. I noticed something on the way."

"Yes?"

"We passed a room two halls from here and I saw a commander going over the building's plans. I managed to spot the dart bay's location, sir. We can get out."

**

* * *

A/n:** Sorry for the shortness. This just seemed like the best place to stop from all I've written. Think of this as a filler chapter to get you back on track. Next one is already more than halfway done and will be out in 2-3 days maximum.


	6. State of Emergency

**A/n: **Here's chapter six, as I promised. I am in time? O.o That's so unusual for me.

**Discaimer:** I don't own, you don't sue.

**

* * *

Chapter six: State of Emergency **

"Good luck, Colonels." Carter's voice sounded on the Daedalus bridge.

"Thank you Colonel" Caldwell answered and ended the transmission. The ship entered hyperspace.

"Okay, let's go over the plan again." Rodney said

"We remembered it the first seven times McKay." Ronon said, switching his gun's mode to "kill" "We fly the jumper in invisible mode to the planet, we get Cadman and Lorne out, we plant some explosives, we get out and detonate."

"And Teyla stays here, cause she is pregnant. See, even Ronon remembers most of it." Said the team leader, earning himself a killer look from said Satedan "No offence, Chewie."

"It is going to be okay Rodney. I am sure everything will go well for you." Teyla tried to reassure him _"I only hope the Lieutenant and the Major are in condition to be saved."_ She thought

* * *

"That's good, Cadman, very good. But there's still the problem of us getting to said place."

"Well, I don't know about you, Sir, but except for my head, I feel fine. When they come to get us next time, we'll knock them out, take their guns and make a dead run for the dart bay."

"Wow, did they give you a magical healing pill, Lieutenant? You sound like you found a new explosive substance to try out."

"Sir, we have a chance of escaping this hole, how should I sound?"

"Didn't mean for it to sound like that, Cadman. Get some rest. We strike the next time they come for us."

* * *

It wasn't a big deal that their jumper flied to the planet unnoticed by the hive or any of the cruisers orbiting the planet. It always happened. What really concerned them was the number of the facility guards. They had managed to spot only one patrol that wasn't even getting near to the location of the jumper and only three guards on the entrance.

"Okay, I'll take the one on the left, Ronon takes the two on the right." Sheppard whispered "Rodney… try not to get in the way too much and don't get yourself hurt."

"I can work with a gun perfectly, thank you very…" McKay started in a loud whisper. He didn't manage to finish, because Sheppard gave them the sign to move out.

* * *

"Sir, I hear footsteps. Someone's coming." Cadman whispered

"Be ready Lieutenant. This is probably the only chance we'll get."

As the footsteps neared, few voices became audible. They were whispering really loud. It almost sounded like… bickering.

"_We weren't gonna get lost if you have actually memorized the building's plans, McKay!"_

"_We are not lost, Sheppard, I know where I am__!"  
_

_"Yeah, you just don't know where everything else is! I so should have remembered what your sister told me about the garden maze."_

"Major, am I having a hallucination?"

"If you too are hearing two voices that sound like those of Colonel Sheppard and Doctor McKay, then it's a group one."

"_Hey, you hear that?"_

"_What, Ronon?"_

Cadman allowed her voice to become a little louder "Colonel Sheppard, we are here."

"_Cadman?!"_

The footsteps became louder and in a few seconds the male part of Sheppard's team appeared before the two prisoners. McKay headed to the console that held the opening mechanism to the cell's door, but was cut short by a shot from Ronon's gun, that effectively damaged the mechanism and opened the door. The Colonel quickly gave each of the ex-prisoners a weapon and signaled them to follow him to the main power hall. At least he was sure of its location.

* * *

Few minutes later the orbiting hive's sensors reported a huge explosion on the planet, but none of them managed to spot the little Puddle Jumper, that wasn't even in invisible mode, heading away from the planet. The Queen shifted in her seat on the bridge.

"What is it, my Queen?" a Wraith Commander asked, bowing in front of her

"We will know soon enough." She hissed contently and gave the order for the hive to jump in hyperspace

* * *

"Incoming transmission, Sir!" the bridge officer shouted to the ship's commander who had just re-entered the bridge "It's from Colonel Sheppard's Puddle Jumper."

"Patch them on." Caldwell answered taking his usual seat in the command chair "Colonel Sheppard, I guess everything went well. Are the Major and Lieutenant with you?"

"Yes, Sir, safe and sound. All went well, except a few minor details." The spiky- haired man finished, throwing his civil teammate a venomous look.

* * *

"I am glad to see everyone back in one piece" Carter greeted the six people that were just beamed down from the Daedalus "Especially you, Major Lorne and you, Lieutenant Cadman."

"It's great to be back, Ma'am." The marine answered

"Briefing will be in 4 hours. Go get yourself checked, everyone. You got the Doc very worried."

* * *

"Sir!" Evan heard Cadman's voice shout after him and turned to see her running to catch up to him.

"I guess your check came out good, Lieutenant?"

"Yes, Sir, all clear…Look Major, I just wanted to say thank you. For not giving up there, for agreeing with my crazy plan, for being a commander I can look up to."

For a second, Lorne was at a loss of words, but the managed to recover enough to answer that it was the commander's job. And before he knew it, she had overstepped regulations. And it hit him, hard. Until that moment Evan Lorne had never realized that his feelings for Cadman had been going overboard with the years. He had always thought of her as one of his closest friends, even when she had left Atlantis those few months ago. But it never even occurred to him, that they could be more than friends. He was the superior, she was one of his subordinates. End of story. Well, not really. She was one of his subordinates that had just overstepped every boundary, broken every non-frat rule, but most of all, she had just made him realize what he truly felt and how wrong and impossible it was for them. All of it, by simply pressing her lips to his, in a chaste kiss that wasn't longer than a second, but made their lives so much more complicated.

For a second time in a few minutes he was at a loss of words. Actually, that wasn't a loss of words, Lorne decided. He knew the right words for it, they involved wrong and regulations and his and her name, but he couldn't make them leave his mouth.

And by the time, half a minute later, that he could do it, Cadman was already long gone.

* * *

The Major was trying to convince himself that he was jogging across Atlantis' halls, because he needed to get back in form, but in the end he knew it was in an attempt to clear his head. 3 hours had passed since him and Cadman had shared that kiss and it was the only thing he could think about. He stopped his run, recognizing the hall that lead to the side of the city her quarters were in and decided to do the manly thing and go talk to her. Resuming his run, he passed through the empty halls. Lorne always liked to go running during the usual dinner time, because almost everyone was in the mess hall.

A noise, coming from a room close by made him stop in his tracks and listen. It was coming from a room nearby. Getting closer, Lorne saw that it wasn't an ordinary room, it was one of the rooms that held the naquadah generators that powered the city. As far as he knew, the generators were checked on a daily basis, but in the morning and always by at least two people from Doctor Zelenka's department.

Getting ready for confrontation, the Major swiped his hand before the sensors and opened the door.

"Cadman? What the hell are you doing with the naquadah generator?"

The last thing he managed to do before she lunged at him and knock him out was to press the emergency button next to the door.

* * *

"Major! Lorne, wake up!" doing as he was told, Evan opened his eyes and saw Colonel Sheppard standing next to him. A second later McKay was by their side

"The generator's settings have been altered, someone was going to make a bomb out of it. One that could've vaporized half Atlantis or more. The Major's timing was good, he stopped them, just before they pressed the "start" button."

"Did you see who it was Lorne?"

"Yes, Sir. It was Lieutenant Cadman."

**

* * *

A/n: **Well, this was chapter six. At least it was longer than the previous one. :P Next one out in one- two weeks.


	7. Where Do I Hide?

**A/n:** It has been really long, hasn't it? All I can say is that I am sorry and that I blame school for it! Well, at least with a little bit of luck I may get an A for the year in every subject. :) Important thing is that summer is coming and that I got my inspiration back. Oh, and to make up for the loooong pause I am giving you not one, but two (kinda shorter) chapters. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** You should know already.

**

* * *

****Chapter 7: Where Do I Hide?**

Lorne carefully got into a sitting position, while a medic from Keller's team was checking his injury, and observed as Sheppard quickly spoke in his radio."

"We need to secure the other naquadah generators!" McKay shouted somewhere on his left just as a very concerned looking Colonel Carter ran into the room

"The rest of Major Lorne's team and Ronon are already on their way. All the other military personnel has been split into teams of twos and threes and started the search for Cadman."

"Permission to join one of those teams Ma'am."

The Colonel looked at the petite female medic that had been examining Lorne's injury. The other woman shook her head.

"You're in no condition to do that Major. Go get yourself checked by Doctor Keller, we'll have everything under control in a matter of minutes."

"Please Colonel, I was the one who took her to that planet, I owe it to her." Evan's eyes had become pleading

'_He's going for the puppy eyes'_ Sheppard thought _'She's gonna say yes in three…two…on-"_

Carter sighed and gave Lorne a curt nod, clicking her earpiece.

"Major Kersey, this is Colonel Carter. Major Lorne will be joining your search team… understood." She turned to Lorne "The Major will be waiting for you in front of your quarters."

"Thank you Ma'am."

* * *

Getting up was the hardest thing he'd done the whole day, but Evan was proud that he managed to keep his face from showing it. First it was his head, _'I probably have a concussion'_ he thought. _'Cadman sure knows how to aim, and her strength may be increased by whatever the Wraith did to her.'_ Which led him to the next problem, what exactly had the Wraith done to the Lieutenant? Keller had run every test she could think of on her and every single one had come out clear. Deciding he'd have time to worry about that later, the Major went back to trying to keep standing, despite the pain. And there was more pain. Lots more. His chest hurt like hell. He had come clean from Keller's check too with the Doc not having found any problems or alterations from the Queen's torture, except for the ugly palm- shaped scar on his chest. He had felt completely fine the whole day. _'Why is it hurting like hell now?' _He'd have to see Keller for that too. _'First things first, Evan.'_ Lorne told himself _'First you find Cadman, then you get both of you to the infirmary.' _Trying to ignore Colonel Carter's worried look, Lorne exited the generator room and headed in a light run to his quarters.

Reaching them, he saw Kersey and Rivers waiting for him. They gave him a Kevlar vest, and a stunner and the three headed to the central parts of the city that were designated to them.

* * *

"What's our status?" Carter asked as she, McKay and Sheppard entered the control room

"All civilian personnel has been confined to their quarters, our military teams have started the search." The Gate technician answered her

"Anything on the life signs detector?" McKay asked Zelenka

"Not ye-" the scientist stopped mid sentence "Wait, there she is!" Zelenka zoomed on the central part of the city. "She's headed to the central generator room."

"Who do we have there?" Carter turned to Sheppard

"Lieutenant Kagan." The other Colonel responded clicking on his earpiece "Lieutenant Kagan, this is Sheppard come in. I repeat Kagan, come in." his voice was greeted only by static on the other end of the line.

* * *

"_Major Lorne, come in."_ The sound of Sheppard's voice in Evan's ear almost made him jump and the pain in his chest doubled with the sharp intake of breath he took.

Tapping his earpiece, Lorne answered. "Yes Sir?"

That was when the lights went down.


	8. Dead Inside

**A/n: **Yep, two chapters at once, as promised. : ) As you can clearly see I went completely wild with directions, feel free to feel lost.

**Disclaimer:** Check the previous chapters.

**

* * *

Chapter Eight: Dead Inside**

"_Lorne? You still there?" _Sheppard's voice sounded concerned

"Yes Sir, power's out. What's going on?"

"Cadman has gotten to the central area generator, your team's location is closest to it."

"We'll check it out immediately Sir, Lorne out."

* * *

With Lorne leading, the team took a turn to the right and ran straight ahead reaching the stairs for the lower level. Descending them, they turned left and ran straight ahead to the generator room. Lieutenant Kagan was lying on the floor, face up, his eyes closed.

"She must've knocked him out pretty hard, check his vitals." Lorne ordered Rivers "Major, the naquadah generator's completely busted. Looks like she gave up on her 'blowing up the city' plan." Kersey shouted from the other end of the room

"She's an explosives expert Major. She can think of a dozen different ways to blow this city up." Evan responded turning on his radio "Colonel Sheppard, this is Lorne. The naquadah generator is completely disabled…"

"Major Lorne!" Rivers shouted "I almost can't feel any pulse or breathing." The Lieutenant removed his palm from under the soldier's head "Oh shit!" he said looking at the blood that had soaked his fingers

"Colonel, Kagan needs medical attention, send a medical team immediately." Lorne almost shouted in his earpiece

"_They are already on their way Major. You need to get Cadman now. She's two levels above you, heading east."_

"On my way Sir." Evan responded, turning to his team "Rivers stay with Kagan until the medical team arrives. Kersey, you're with me."

* * *

Running back to the stairs they had come from, the pair quickly ascended two levels and headed east. This level was also powered by the central area generator and was completely dark. Dimming the light of his flashlight and slowing pace, Lorne gave the other Major a sign to separate and cover both halls that were in front of them.

It was too calm for his liking, Evan decided. The sound of his own footsteps was unnerving, at least. The sharp pain in his chest and head that he was unsuccessfully trying to ignore wasn't helping either. Laura had to be somewhere around, Sheppard hadn't made contact to inform him of a change of her direction. Reaching the end of the hall, he turned left. That was when it happened. A single stunner blast sound came from the next room followed by a thud from a body hitting the ground. Then footsteps, someone running… away, Cadman! Quickly getting to Kersey's unconscious body, the Major checked his vitals to find them stable. She had gone on him easier than Kagan. Calling in another medical team, he ran after the sound of the Lieutenant's footsteps.

* * *

She wasn't as fast as he thought, because he managed to catch up to her in the next hallway.

"Stay where you are Cadman!" He yelled pointing his stunner at her back. His condition wasn't good. Every breath he took burned his chest, his head was pounding and the nausea was about to hit hard. But even from where Laura stood, 20 feet away with her face away, Evan could see that hers was worse. Her shoulders were hunched and he managed to spot sweat running down from her neck and hear her panting. She was obviously exhausted and he was going to take advantage of that.

"Drop the stunner and turn around, _slowly_."

Doing as she was told, Laura threw the stunner to her right and turned to face him. He may have noticed her hunched shoulders and ragged breath, but they ere nothing compared to her face. It was pale like a ghost's, her eyes bloodshot with bags under them.

"What the hell have they done to you Laura?" he whispered

"They made me better, Major. Made me more powerful. And they will give me all the power that I want after I destroy Atlantis for them."


	9. Fight for All the Wrong Reasons

**A/n: **Yes, here I am with another chapter. This fic is slowly heading to its end. Omg I am gonna miss it so much. Once again, feel free to feel lost. xD

**Disclaimer:** They still won't sell the rights to me. :/

**

* * *

Chapter Nine: Fight for all the Wrong Reasons**

"All the power that I want, Major." Cadman repeated, her tired expression lighting up as much as possible. "My Queen showed me how blind and deaf I had been until now, how weak. But things are about to change very soon, because in 24 hours everything left Atlantis will be debris."

"_I told Kersey that she'll think of at least a dozen other ways to blow up the city."_ Lorne thought _"It's obvious that she has been brainwashed somehow. But what is she up to? What was the busted generator for if she is going to blow up Atlantis anyway? Could she be fighting whatever's making her do all this?"_

Lost in wonder, Evan let himself lower the gun and inch which was all Laura was waiting for. Gathering all her strength, she ran to him and with a single swift high-kick got the stunner out of his hands. Then, like she knew that his current weakest spot was his chest, she pressed her palm exactly on the outlines of his scar and pushed the Major back. It was the most terrifying, head spinning, breathtaking pain Lorne had ever felt. Doubling over, he tried to regain his breath, but now it didn't just burn when he did, it was like someone had poured acid in his lungs. With his eyes tightly shut, Evan could only hear Cadman go to his stunner, pick it up from the ground and point it to what he presumed was his head. A single blast split the air. Already expecting the impact with the horrible blackness… and the floor, Lorne tried to shut his eyes even harder and brace for the impact… that didn't follow. Instead he heard the thud of a body, which wasn't his own, hit the ground and the sound of heavy footsteps coming in his direction. Opening his eyes he saw Cadman's unconscious form lying on the floor in front of him. The stunner still in her hand. Gritting his teeth to the pain that had gone back to its normal boundaries, he managed to lift the upper part of his body back up. In the middle of the hall, quickly approaching his direction was Ronon, his traveler's gun still in his hand and a radio, which he turned on, in the other.

"Sheppard, I got them." He growled in it

* * *

"Stay where you are Chewie, we'll be there right away." Sheppard said before clicking off his earpiece. The group he was leading, composed of him, the conscious part of Lorne's team, McKay, Keller and two other medics, got to the central area generator room half a minute after he spoke with Ronon. McKay took a look and said that he might, which in McKay language meant will, be able to repair said naquadah generator. Leaving a soldier with him, the group proceeded to climb two levels and run through the hallways until they reached the two soldiers and Sateadan's location. Keller immediately ran to Cadman's unmoving body, checking her vitals and instructing her people to put her on a gurney and take her to the infirmary as quickly as possible. Next on she moved to the now sitting Lorne who had just started explaining the situation to the Colonel.

"She is definitely brainwashed Sir. What we don't know is how, but I can bet it's some chemical or drug."

"Didn't all her blood tests come out clear?" Ronon asked

"Yes they did." Keller said checking the Major's pulse and breathing "There were some minor anomalies, but nothing of importance… on ho." Feeling the three men's looks on her, Jennifer raised her head to meet Sheppard's eyes "We have to get to the infirmary, now."

That's when Lorne yelled. She had accidentally placed her fingers on his chest. The pain had come as such a shock to him that Evan didn't even understand he actually yelled because of it.

"Evan, what happened? Here, let me take a look." Keller said making him lift his shirt up "Dear Lord!" She exclaimed putting her hand over her mouth.

Turning his eyes to his chest, Lorne almost screamed again. The place where the almost healed, hand- shaped scar used to be, was now red and swollen, the hand outlines clearly visible. Getting him up and putting his arms over their shoulders as support, Sheppard and Ronon headed as quickly as possible to the infirmary. Even with the almost unconscious Lorne, the trip was brief and soon he was placed on a bed and his shirt had been removed. Just as he started to feel the pleasant numbness the painkillers provided, Evan remembered that because of the pain, he had forgotten the most important thing.

"Colonel Sheppard!" he yelled with the last of his strength "Don't put the search teams on stand, she is planning to blow this place up." And then surrendered to the darkness


	10. Live This Down

**A/n: **Here we are with chapter ten. I would like to apologize in advance for any mistakes in the medical description you may find, I googled most of it and it may not be really accurate. Other than that, I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** If I owned it, I would've gotten myself a ZPM. :p

**

* * *

Chapter Ten: Live This Down**

Both soldiers' conditions were bad, very bad. Turning to the now- sedated Lorne first, Keller treated the previously-scar-now-an-infected-wound and assigned him to broad spectrum antibiotics, hoping they'd work. Next she moved on, to the also unconscious Cadman. Test results showed she was dehydrated and her Tryptophan levels still low. Putting her on an IV to increase the amino acid's level and the glucose in her blood, Keller left the marine in the hands of the other medics and went straight to where Sheppard and Ronon were waiting with the newly-arrived Colonel Carter.

"What is their condition, Jennifer?" the other woman asked

"It's bad, what used to be a scar on Lorne's chest is now an almost open and heavily infected wound. I've treated it and put him on wide spectrums, but only time can tell. I think I found out the reason for Cadman's behavior." Keller answered and motioned to the three to follow her to a screen in the far part of the infirmary.

"Cadman's scans after she and Lorne came back showed low levels of Tryptophan, which can lead to delusion and makes one easily influencable. Also it works as a precursor for Serotonin, which is a major sleep regulator, hence the dark circles under her eyes. She probably hasn't slept since her and the Major were rescued.

Whatever the Wraith gave her significantly lowered the Tryptophan substance in her brain and probably made her organism unable to metabolize it properly. We are currently introducing more of it to her system and hoping that she will be able to metabolize it."

"And if she doesn't?" Ronon asked in a low voice

"Worst case scenario, she develops schizophrenia, we'll have to wait."

"Now we have an even bigger problem." Sheppard added "Just before he went to the Land of unconsciousness, Lorne told me that Cadman plans to blow the city up. We need to find out when and how."

"Our search teams are still out, we'll send McKay and Zelenka too." Carter answered "We'll send them to the other generator rooms fi-." The lights went out another time

"What the hell!" Sheppard almost yelled "Does a generator break down every time we start talking about them?" he was about to radio McKay, but the scientist called first

"_Sheppard, generator 5 is down."_

"We know Rodney, the lights in the infirmary are out."

"_The infirmary? But it's powered by generator 4!"_

"Can you fix it?"

"_Yes, but it'll take time, we can use the ZPM to power the systems while__ the science team and I fix all of them." _

"How much time?"

"_I don't know, a few hours?"_

"Okay, get to work." Carter ordered

"I am going to join one of the search teams." Sheppard said and exited the infirmary after receiving a curt nod from the other Colonel

"Me too." Ronon said and left without waiting for permission

* * *

"_Doctor McKay and Colonel Carter to the control room." _Zelenka's voice sounded city-wide _"Doctor McKay and Colonel Carter to the control room immediately."_

"What now, Zelenka?" McKay murmured and headed to the nearest transporter. There was even more work for him since the last operating generator had gone offline too. "I was almost done with the repairs on the first naquadah generator."

* * *

"What is it Radek? I am a busy man." McKay flew into the control room just a minute after Carter had gone in

"Rodney, you need to see this. Since the Daedalus is out of range, we were going to dial Earth to alert them of our situation. That was when I saw it. The dialing had just begun, when I decided to do a quick check of our secondary systems and it turned out that they are draining twice as much power, tha-."

"That means that if you had dialed the Gate it would have overloaded the ZPM and we would've exploded into tiny pieces."

"Yes, luckily Radek had managed to stop the dialing in time." Carter sounded relieved

"But how did she know for sure we would have dialed Earth? Colonel Carter could've ceased all Gate activity."

"She didn't, that wasn't her plan. Making all the generators break down one after another was part of it, though." McKay answered "Without knowing the change in the secondary systems' consume range, we decided to power the areas with a broken generator with the ZPM, adding more and more load with each breakdown, thinking that the power consume is in the reasonable boundaries. The overload…"

"Is still going to happen." Carter finished for him "We have to return the secondary systems' power consume to normal and get a couple of naquadah generators back online immediately."


	11. Code of Energy

**A/n: **Wow, eleventh chapter, and there's still a couple of them to go before this story is finished. When I started this story I thought it was going to be only about 5 chapters or so. O.o

**Disclaimer:** Not mine, even if I want them to be.

**

* * *

Chapter Eleven: Code of Energy**

"Yeah, this may prove a little bit easier said then done." McKay said "We are just finishing with the repairs on generator 2, but all the others are hours away from being done with."

"That's fine, our main priority now is to fix the secondary systems' power consume." Carter answered him

"Yes, this might not be that easy either." Zelenka told them "I just tried it and it seems that the Lieutenant managed to hack the system and change the authentication codes."

"Move away, go fix the naquadah generators." Rodney said, as the other scientist got up, and sat in his chair "Who taught her that? I am not even sure if I will be able to crack it."

"Try it Rodney. In the meantime, I'll inform the others." Sam said and left the control room

* * *

Carter had assembled Sheppard, Ronon, and Keller in the briefing room and ordered a stand down on all military search teams.

"When did she even have time to do that?" Sheppard inquired after the other Colonel explained the situation to him "How? We had her on our sensors the whole damn time."

"Actually, she had more than enough time to do it. We don't know for sure that Major Lorne caught her on the first generator she busted and even if he did, she had some time until we assembled the search teams and started monitoring her on the life signs detector. Point is, that is not our problem now…"

"Problem is that we don't know if McKay will be able to crack those codes on time and Cadman is the only one that can get them for us." John finished for her "So what do we do?"

"Could we wake her up?" Sam asked turning to Keller

"I wouldn't advise it." The Doctor answered "Plus, we can't be sure that she will give them to us, even if we do so."

"Can't we just take the ZPM out?" Ronon suggested

"It's not that easy Ronon, it's our only power source currently and even if we do, the secondary systems' settings will remain the same and the overload will happen when we plug it in again. For now we will try with waiting for McKay to crack the code. In our current situation, with one generator online, the overload is about 18 hours away. We will wake the Lieutenant up if we don't have anything in 8. Dismissed."

* * *

Cadman awoke feeling like she had been hit by a particularly large truck. Her mouth was dry, her head hurt like she was hung-over and the only thing she wanted to do was go back to sleep. Looking over to the bed next to her she spotted Major Lorne. He was unconscious and from where she was standing, she could see his face, pain written over it. What had happened? She couldn't remember at first, but then it all came back; the trading mission, the Wraith attack, Lorne and her being taken to the hive and then to that base, the Queen, the injections, then the Queen again, this time whispering empty promises of power to her, then coming back to Atlantis, the kiss she had shared with Lorne and then _"Oh God"_ Laura thought _"I did this to him, Evan's in here because of me. And it's not only him, I probably killed Kagan and Kersey too."_ Finally she remembered the bomb, the one she had placed inside the city she now called home _"I have to tell them, before it's too late, before they decide to try dialing the Gate!"_ That was when she started screaming.

* * *

Keller and Ronon were sharing silently a meal in the mess hall. Both uncomfortable, trying to say something, but not really knowing what or how.

"Uh Ronon, how…" Jennifer started to say, but was interrupted by a voice on the city- wide com

"_Doctor Keller to the infirmary immediately!"_

She didn't even have time to tell him she was sorry. Running as fast as she could, she got to the infirmary, where the other medics were still trying to calm the frantic Laura Cadman.

"Laura, Laura, calm down dear. It's me, it's Jennifer. It's okay." She repeated over and over

"Jen, you don't have much time, what I did… You must not try to dial the Gate under any circumstances!" Cadman was calmer now, but her eyes were pleading "I made a terrible mistake Jen, several of them and now the city is in danger and Evan's life is in danger and Kersey and Kagan's too."

The Doctor was about to continue with her attempts to comfort Cadman, but was interrupted by Carter and Sheppard who flew into the infirmary.

"Sir, Ma'am." She tried to salute them on instinct, but her body only let her get halfway there.

"Stand down Cadman. We need your help now." Sheppard said

"Anything Sir."

"We need the authentication codes you used to lock us out."

The look on her face was of pure surprise, then it changed to despair.

"I can't give them to you Sir, I typed them randomly so you wouldn't be able to get them out of me."


End file.
